Writing to Music

Habits #33 and #34 deal with “Writing to Music” and “Writing in Silence.”

It’s interesting to see the varied habits. For example, Eric Roth (Forrest Gump, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Ali…) does not listen to music while writing, while Ron Bass (Rain Man, My Best Friend’s Wedding) listens to Jazz and repeats the same tracks so the music disappears into the background.

I also randomly repeat the same tracks as it creates a kind of mental cocoon and, like Nicholas Kazan (Fallen, At Close Range) describes, serves as a form of inspiration:

“I find it’s a wonderful aid that sort of massages the right hemisphere of my brain.”

Here’s my current iTunes “Write” playlist:

Stillness Of The Mind – A Single Man

Daydreams – A Single Man

And Just Like That – A Single Man

George’s Waltz (2) – A Single Man

Sunset – A Single Man

American Beauty – American Beauty

The Cider House Rules – The Cider House Rules

Weehawken Ferry – Cinderella Man

All Prayed Out – Cinderella Man

Blood On My Hands – The Dark Knight

Cigar Box – The Green Mile

Evenstar – Lord of the Rings: Two Towers

Route 12 – Revolutionary Road

Simple Clean Lines – Revolutionary Road

Unrealistic – Revolutionary Road

April – Revolutionary Road

Revolutionary Road – Revolutionary Road

Road to Chicago – Road to Perdition

The Farm – Road to Perdition

Rain Hammers –Road to Perdition

Road to Perdition –Road to Perdition

The Orange Man – Unbreakable

Even though the list constantly evolves with new choices working their way in and out, Thomas Newman’s work always remains. I never get tired of the haunting simplicity of his music — a perfect complement to my style of writing.

I find listening to any music with lyrics distracting, so I save those songs of inspiration from favorite artists like Hüsker Dü, Bad Religion, Bob Mould, The Gipsy Kings, R.L. Burnside, Buddy Guy, and so on for the car and the gym. The current song being repeated over and over in the car is For The Summer by Ray LaMontagne and The Pariah Dogs.